Somnibot
Somnibot is a female lullaby-singing, sleep-themed monster, created by Klank & Orbus on Mondo's suggestion, whose sleep-inducing power was able to put both human and machine into a deep sleep (the type of sleep that Snow White and Princess Aurora would fall into) by the power of her voice; in other words she uses a music-based hypnotic spell that both tires and weakens her victims. She even attempted to place the Gold Ranger under the power of her lullaby and put him to sleep as well. She was first defeated in her battle with the Gold Ranger. To protect themselves from being affected by the sleeping spell, Klank & Orbus both wear acoustic, spell-resistant headphones/earmuffs at one point. In both of her forms, her primary method of attack is to induce sleep; an especially deep slumber that can be experienced by both humans and machines alike. She does this by singing a lullaby, while her eyes glow brightly like twinkling stars. Her victims would then fall asleep and then possibly experience very sweet and peaceful dreams (albeit against their will), but she was destroyed by the Zeo Ultrazord before they could be seen. When Zordon was briefing the Rangers on Somnibot, Rocky mused that her spell (and in effect, her singing itself) sounded like a good idea right then, as the Rangers were sleepy from overwork at the time. In her first form, she wears a large pink nightcap on her head and her voice is rather yawn-heavy, as if her singing puts her to sleep as well. She also makes various sleep- and bedtime-related puns in her first form as well, specifically during her battle with the Gold Ranger. In her second form, however, her puns become a little more dark and sinister. As explained, in her first form she is very narcoleptic. Overall, she has a very adorable-looking appearance in her primary form, resembling a child's toy robot. After her initial defeat, she returns with a power amplifier where her face used to be, even the Gold Ranger is no match for it and her attitude is much nastier, her characteristic sleepiness and sweet-looking nature entirely gone. Later when she grows huge, she is destroyed by the Zeo Ultrazord but not before arrogantly claiming herself to be invincible. Queen Machina later fretted over Somnibot's destruction, though her husband was asleep at the time. Somnibot was later seen as an audience member in Prince Gasket's Machine Arena. It is unexplained how she got revived from the Zeo Ultrazord finisher, or what form she was in when she was in her seat. She has not been seen since, however, so it is unknown if she was reduced to sand or purified by the Z-Wave, or that (if she was reduced to sand or purified) her evil essence was banished to the Shadow World as a result. Personality Unlike other monsters that have come before her and since (with the exception of Waspicable), Somnibot's personality is very childlike, playful and sweet-natured in her first form, due to the fact that she has a very nonthreatening appearance and sleep-based powers. However, she was putting people to sleep against their will, which is wrong and she clearly didn't care given her enthusiasm on continuing to do so. In her second form, however, she is far more sinister after she has been given a power boost and an upgrade to her appearance. In both forms, she is very dedicated to her mission of singing the Rangers to sleep. She also is very proud of her singing ability, though she understands whether or not to sing (as she almost put a Quadrafighter pilot to sleep, which would have spelled disaster for her). However, her pride got the best of her when she arrogantly declared to the Rangers that she was invincible before getting destroyed by the Zeo Ultrazord. Arsenal Somnibot's main ability is possessing a singing voice that makes anyone, whether organic or machine, fall asleep upon hearing her cradle song - similar to how the Sirens of Greek mythology used their beautiful singing to lure sailors and their crew to their doom but on a less extreme scale. In other words, her powers are essentially based on music. Her power and abilities change and evolve as she goes through multiple forms: *In her first and most recognized form, she sings the lullaby "Rock-a-Bye Baby" (or a song to the lullaby's melody, as is the case with the Rangers), making anyone within a short range fall asleep and are drained of their energy while hearing it; this form affects the Zeo Rangers, several civilians and several Cogs. She can also fire pink energy spheres from her mouth as projectiles. Her eyes glow red to violet when she sings, her eyes resembling twinkling stars. Her victims also glow as well, being drained of their energy as they slowly fall asleep. She also waves her arms as well, sending a blanket of warm, violet energy that spreads over her soon-to-be-dreaming victims, specifically the Rangers. *In her final form, granted to her by Klank after being blasted apart by the Gold Ranger, her head has become megaphone-shaped and her sleeping spell is much stronger than before, to the point where her victims glow white instead of red or violet as they are being drained of their life force. She finally gets shorted out by a power surge courtesy of Alpha 5, terminating her audio frequency, stopping her concert and returning the Rangers' energy to them. Before the shortout, the spell is powerful enough to even affect the Gold Ranger. She stops singing after a short while, however. Somnibot has no tangible (i.e.: she can hold them in her hand) weapons, however. Etymology Her name comes from the Roman Latin word somnus, which means "sleep, drowsiness". She is thus named after the Roman god of sleep, Somnus. Notes * Bara Gūsuka, Somnibot's Japanese counterpart, was originally male (voiced by a female, veteran voice actress Kazue Takahashi), but she herself was changed to female (albeit her voice sounding a bit like Prince Sprocket's on occasion, due to Barbara Goodson providing her singing and speaking voices). However, King Mondo accidentally refers to Somnibot as male when he orders Klank and Orbus to reassemble her and boost her special powers. ** Somnibot also had a second form before her amplifier face - a windup version of herself (complete with key) combined with two phonograph horns on top of her head, a computer module on her chest and a baby doll taped to her back. This form was never shown due to time constraints and problems with the source footage, as there were too many Japanese people in the footage. The form she would have taken would have made her resemble a wind-up toy robot or a music box. *Like fellow monster Robocupid, Somnibot has two read "head spikes" in the side of her head whose function is unknown. *She is one of Barbara Goodson's least known PR characters, due to Somnibot herself being a one-off monster-of-the-week; however, she can still do Somnibot's voice for those fans that remember her. *In Mondo's Last Stand, she was described as one of King Mondo's finest monsters. However, [[Bara Gūsuka|her counterpart in Ohranger]] was deemed "lazy" and "worthless" and ordered to be sentenced to death for making the entire Royal Family fall asleep. *Somnibot's pink nightcap is in a different position on her head in American footage than in the Ohranger footage. *As stated above, Somnibot has emerald eyes that glow from red to bright white when she sings her bedtime songs. They only glow when she sings, however, not when she is talking. *Somnibot has a red crystal dot in the center of her forehead, and small bolts circling her sleep-eyed face. Her mouth resembles that of a old-fashion marionette puppet or a ventriloquist's dummy. *The lullaby that Somnibot sings throughout her episode is Rock-a-bye Baby, a lullaby with, according to theory, possible origins during the colonial period of North America. However, Mondo implies that Somnibot could sing other cradle songs as well. Brahms' Lullaby, for example, is played in the musical score after she puts Bulk, Skull and a burglar to sleep. * Somnibot is one of several monsters that uses music as a weapon to attack the Rangers. Others include Dischordia, Dizchord, and Guitardo among others. Like Dischordia, Somnibot uses her singing to incapacitate the Rangers, only in Somnibot's case she uses her singing to lull the Rangers and others into beautiful dream worlds rather than make them dance uncontrollably. Unlike Dischordia's singing, however, Somnibot's singing is more melodious and maternal than hers. When we first hear her sing to the Rangers, there is a yawn in the back of her mechanical throat, but when she is upgraded her singing has more melody. * Somnibot never enters the Power Chamber to sing Alpha to sleep, despite her king and her queen already knowing the location of the Power Chamber by this time. See Also Category:Zeo Monsters Category:Female PR Villains